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The head of Britain’s trade union movement has called for a debate about the concentration of ownership of major UK media organisations, as he warned against allowing Trumpian attacks on the BBC to undermine our national broadcaster.
Trades Union Congress General Secretary Paul Nowak condemned media attacks on the BBC and said that GB News – the broadcast platform for much of the opposition to the publicly-funded corporation– is an “ideologically driven mouthpiece for those on the Right.”
Speaking to Byline Times from TUC’s Congress House in central London, Nowak said the “problems around media ownership and media bias have got worse” in his 36 years as a trade union activist.
He pointed to the growth of right-wing channel GB News, now promoted by Donald Trump and his team directly, and Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter (now X). The evidence shows a marked shift towards far-right figures on the platforms.
Nowak, 53, told this outlet: “When I was a young activist, we used to rail against Murdoch’s monopoly of the media and the bias of the right-wing media, and that has remained [the case].
But he added: “Alongside that, now we’ve got social media companies owned wholesale by tech billionaires like X. Or [take] Paul Marshall who [owns] GB News and that whole empire.
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“I do think it is time for a debate about media plurality, and who owns our media.”
He said the issue was “particularly important” amidst the concentration of social media ownership by a handful of tech barons.
“Who has control over the algorithms that dictate what content goes onto people’s phones?”…We need to be effectively regulating those social media companies.”
And while he highlighted some signs of unions reaching more people on platforms like TikTok, the union chief noted a stark fact: “Collectively, the trade union movement has [fewer] followers on X and Instagram than Nigel Farage on his own.”
“We directly represent five and a half million people, so we’ve got to get much better at using those social media platforms and talking directly to members and potential members,” the TUC head added.
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On the crisis in the BBC, the Merseyside-born leader argued that “anybody who cares about [a] decent press and media in this country should be rallying to defend the BBC and to strengthen it.”
“Does that mean the organisation is perfect? No way at all. Would we have criticisms about some of its editorial decisions? Of course. Did they get it wrong on that Panorama programme [about Donald Trump]? Probably.
“But I think it is…the best news broadcaster in the world, and for all its imperfections, it’s something we should absolutely defend – certainly defend it against the likes of Donald Trump.”
He pointed his ire in particular at GB News, which is host to a raft of Reform UK politicians as presenters including Nigel Farage and Lee Anderson. The channel has faced a slew of investigtations over airing conspiracy theories, anti-migrant and homophobic slurs, and health misinformation.
Some on the Right would like GB News to eclipse the BBC. But Nowak said: “There is no comparison with GB News whatsoever. One is an ideologically driven mouthpiece for those on the Right, and the other is a genuine public service broadcaster. It’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but an institution that we have to defend.”
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“We can’t afford to lose the BBC because I think it plays an important part in our democracy in Britain, but around the world as well.”
The battle for the future of the BBC puts unions in an interesting position – defending a pillar of Britain’s establishment – while it’s under attack from the Right, who would in the past be expected to defend British institutions.
Nowak said there was no contradiction for unions: “You can…recognise the importance of national institutions, but also recognise their flaws and where they need to change.
“Whether it’s the NHS, the BBC, the civil service – you could always deliver things better, you could deliver that more effectively. But these are the things that hold together our national fabric…
“Frankly, what’s our alternative now for the BBC? GB News?
“For the NHS? A privatised insurance-based system, that will cost us more and where those with the deepest pockets get access to treatment?
“For the civil service? An Elon Musk-DOGE-style assault on services that some of our most vulnerable citizens rely on?”
It is not, Nowak believes, an alternative that union members – or voters as a whole – will be drawn to, when push comes to shove.
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